Seven Jewish American mothers visit Israel

Seven women from Orlando — Sarah Gittleson, Stacey Soll, Shifra Yachnes, Carol Feuerman, Debbie Cohen, Limor Raz and Orly Wilf — were part of a group of 100 women from eight American cities who visited Israel from Nov. 4-11 as part of an eight-day trip organized by the global Jewish organization Momentum. The organization aims to inspire Jewish women to lead a Jewish future by becoming more connected to their identity, heritage, and Israel. The eight-day trip was part of the Momentum year-long program known as the Journey of Growth, an initiative that provides women with the opportunity to delve into the spirit of Jewish unity that defines their homeland.           

Many stops on their itinerary paid tribute to the victims and heroes of Oct. 7, like a tour of the ANU–Museum of the Jewish People and its new exhibition, “October Seventh,” which examines how Israeli culture reacted to the war; a visit to Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, where participants expressed their solidarity with the families of the kidnapped victims; and a day where they traveled to Israel’s South which included a stop at Kibbutz Kfar Aza and the Nova Festival Memorial site. 

The women also heard from Dr. Zohar Raviv, Momentum Scholar-in-Residence and the International Vice President of Education and Strategy at Taglit-Birthright Israel, who discussed how each woman can make a difference in advocating for Israel. They also listened to remarks from Lieutenant Colonel (Res.) Yaron Buskila, who confronted more than a dozen terrorists on Oct. 7.

Trip participant and Orlando resident Orly Wilf, who is originally from Israel, said, “I wanted to see Israel from a different perspective and I wanted to connect with women from our local Jewish community. On this trip, I was able to bond with the women here and have a very powerful experience here in Israel - it’s as if I wasn’t born and raised here and got to see the country for the very first time.”

Participants hailed from seven other cities, including Los Angeles, CA; Washington DC; Cooper City, Florida; northern New Jersey; Toronto; New York City; and Minneapolis. Native Israelis also took part to share accounts of their life experiences since war broke out, enabling them to act as a living bridge between the Jewish state and the Diaspora.

The educational programming mirrored the trip’s overall theme of acknowledging loss but also underscoring the Jewish’s people’s longstanding tradition of living a prideful and joyful life. Topics discussed during group sessions included delving into the power of memory, learning, growth, prayer, and taking action. 

 “While the events of October 7 have definitely influenced our Journey of Growth and we want our participants to bear witness to the atrocities of that day, we’re also passionate about showing these women the incredible resilience of the Jewish and Israeli spirit,” said Orit Mizner, chief operating officer at Momentum. “Israel existed before October 7 and will continue much after. As an educational organization we have a responsibility to foster Jewish identity, reclaim the Jewish and Israeli narrative and celebrate it. We also hope that the Israeli motivation to push forward inspires our community of women as they go back home and find ways in which they can be positive agents of change in their communities.”

Momentum is a strong proponent in working with other Jewish organizations around the world and, as such, has worked with over 300 partner organizations to coordinate its myriad activities. For this particular trip, Momentum collaborated with The Jewish Agency for Israel’s Partnership2Gether (P2G) program and The Jewish Federations of North America. 

The organization was established when Lori Palatnik, along with seven other Jewish mother leaders (known as the Utah 8), noticed that communities were struggling to connect women with Jewish values and Israel, and together with eight women from the Washington, D.C. area developed the concept of a subsidized trip to Israel for Jewish mothers as a transformative investment in the Jewish family.

Momentum, which works closely with the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, brings Jewish parents from around the world, the majority of whom are mothers, to Israel and empowers them to be change agents in their respective Jewish communities.